These 9 Quotes From Republicans Show How Much They Really, Really Dislike Ted Cruz

With things heating up between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, voices of the Republican party are speaking out against… Cruz. You’d think that the “establishment” of the GOP would rather deal with Cruz over Trump but that’s not looking to be the case. Many of them think that it would be easier to work with Trump, that he would be more “malleable.” They say that they could “tolerate” Trump. Why? Because Cruz has made it his goal to alienate the very “establishment” he is supposed to be working with.

One of those in the “establishment,” is Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell. Cruz once called McConnell a “liar” on the Senate floor. I don’t know about you, but McConnell doesn’t strike me as a very forgiving fellow. He was subtle about it, but his comment to ABC news that there were “no plans” to vote on a Senate resolution affirming Cruz’s eligibility to be president, is a sly knock-down. They did do that for John McCain in 2008. Meanwhile, McCain has said that Cruz’s eligibility is worth examining.

Most Republicans who oppose Cruz’s candidacy do so because they don’t think that he can win. They think he is way too far to the right to be able to win a general election. They think that, if Cruz is the Republican candidate, it will hand the Democrats the election, no matter who they run. They also worry about down-ticket elections. Also, they really, really don’t like him.

How much do fellow Republicans dislike Ted Cruz? Here are some recent examples:

I think we’ll lose if he’s our nominee. There’s a lot of people who don’t feel he can appeal to people across the board. For us to win, we have to appeal to the moderates and independents. We can’t just act like that only one point of view is the only way to go. That’s where Ted is going to have some trouble. — Sen. Orrin Hatch

It would be a major challenge because of the wounds that are deep. An awful lot of us really didn’t like to be targeted as corrupt, establishment bought by the lobby establishment. It sure looks like someone was using it as a way to gain notoriety as the only true conservative in Washington. — Sen. Dan Coats

Ted Cruz has burned some bridges with some fellow senators. You do see people coming out with more aggressive comments… — Sen. Shelley Moore Capito

I think people are concerned. Because obviously the top of the ticket will have a big bearing on whether we’ll hold a majority of the Senate. We don’t need any headwinds from the top of the ticket. We need some tailwinds. — Sen. John Cornyn

His ability to grow the vote of the Republican Party is almost zero. He’ll easily be portrayed as ideological to a fault. — Sen. Lindsey Graham

There’s no doubt he has harmed relationships among people.He talks a lot about Ronald Reagan. One of the things that Ronald Reagan did when he came to office was heavily court Republicans and Democrats… I don’t see Sen. Cruz being able to do that. — Sen. John McCain

I don’t know how he’s going to deal with Congress; nobody likes him. If he’s the nominee, we’re going to have wholesale losses in Congress and state offices and governors and legislatures. — former Sen. Bob Dole

I’ve watched him stand on the floor of the Senate and call the majority leader a liar… you don’t do that where I’m from. If I’d have been in the Senate, I would have tried to have him removed from the floor of the Senate for inappropriate conduct. You just don’t do that. Are we not still gentlemen, and respectful of each other? — former Sen. Trent Lott

Ted Cruz is ahead right now. What we’re trying to do is educate the people in the state of Iowa. I think it would be a big mistake for Iowa to support him. — Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad

Perhaps these comments are a bit of payback. After all, Cruz admits that he came to Washington to make enemies in Congress, not friends. If that is truly the case, mission accomplished. When your own party prefers a pompous blowhard with no political experience over you, you have a problem.